Shades of red indicate estimated numbers of buildings (yellow dots are schoos) that might be severely damaged in this section of Mount Vernon, WA, following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on the Devil’s Mountain earthquake fault. Source: Washington State Geologic Information Portal/DNR. CLICK TO ENLARGE

Sorry about that! Some visitors to DNR’s website yesterday and this morning experienced delays accessing newly updated interactive earthquake scenarios on the Washington State Geologic Information Portal. The volume of traffic to the portal jumped following yesterday’s Seattle Times article about the State Seismic Hazards Catalog. The scenarios describe the potential impacts on communities and their infrastructure — from homes to utilities — from large earthquakes on 20 major earthquake faults across the state. The State Seismic Hazards Catalog is intended to help citizens, businesses, and safety officials plan for better resiliance to and recovery from a major earthquake.

Note about the graphic with this post: The Devils Mountain Fault runs about 75 miles from Darrington due west to the northern tip of Whidbey Island and continues on towards Victoria, B.C. where the fault is believed to join the Leech River fault system at the southern end of Vancouver Island. The software on which the earthquake scenarios are built was produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s HAZUS program. The software provides estimates for the potential damage based on currently available data.